Robert of Naples

Robert of Naples (1277-20 January 1343) was the King of Naples from 5 May 1309 to 20 January 1343, succeeding Charles II of Naples and preceding Joanna I of Naples.

Biography
Robert was born in 1277, the son of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary. Robert was from the Catholic French House of Anjou. After the death of his brother Charles Martel of Anjou in 1309, he became the King of Naples, and he married King Jaume II of Aragon's sister Violant of Barcelona (also the daughter of Pere III of Aragon) in exchange for James renouncing Sicily. However, the Sicilian barons instead elected Frederick II of Sicily, and the 1302 Peace of Caltabellotta lost the Angevins control of Sicily forever. Pope Clement V made Robert the Papal Vicar of Romagna and Tuscany due to his support of the Papal States, and he fought in the Florentine civil war between the Papal Guelphs and the Imperial Ghibellines. Robert opposed Henry VII of Germany, and after his death in 1313 it seemed as if Robert would become the ruler of Italy. In 1317 he was made Senator of Rome and Vicar of Italy. In 1328 he repelled Louis IV of Germany's invasion as well as John of Bohemia's invasion in 1330; only the constant menace of Aragonese Sicily threatened him. He gained Saluzzo after helping Manfred V of Saluzzo beat his nephew Thomas II of Saluzzo, but he lost his lands in Piedmont at the Battle of Gamenario on 22 April 1345 after his death. His granddaughter Joanna I of Naples succeeded him on his death.